My favorite part of the bestiary was always the ecology section as it gives the stat block some life and context to the setting. I decided to look through how previous editions handled the Manticore.
1st edition
Manticores prefer dismal lairs, so they are typically found in coves or
underground. They range in all climes, although they enjoy warm places
more than cold. The favorite prey of manticores is man, and they are
usually encountered outside their lairs hunting for human victims.
A manticore attacks first by loosing a volley of 6 of its iron tail spikes (1 S'
range as a light crossbow, 1-6 hit points damage per hit). They can fire four
such volleys.
Description: The coloration of the manticore is that of its various parts -
lion-colored body, bot-brown wings, human flesh head.
No. Appearing is listed at 1-4
2nd edition
Habitat/Society: Manticores are found in any climate but prefer warm lands to cool ones. This reflects the wide climate range of their favorite food, humans. A manticore’s territory may cover 20 or more square miles and includes at least one human settlement. Such territories usually overlap with those of other manticores and other man-eating predators like dragons.
Manticores mate for life. The male remains with the female during gestation and hunts for her. Manticores bear one or two cubs which grow rapidly to adulthood in five years. Cubs are born with 1 Hit Die and gain an additional one each year. In their first year, cubs lack flying ability, but they are still small enough for an adult to grasp in its forelegs. There is a 20% chance a she-manticore’s lair holds cubs under one year old. Cubs up to two years inflict one point of damage per front paw and 1-2 points with their bite. Cubs 3-4 years old inflict 1-2, 1-2, and 1-6 points of damage.
Manticore cubs can be caught and trained to assist evil humans. Such training is difficult and dangerous, especially since domesticated adults have an 80% chance of reverting to a wild state. Manticores will not allow themselves to be used as mounts. Wild adults may voluntarily ally themselves with evil humans, provided such allies can provide them with a steady, ample food supply.
Manticores normally eat their prey where they kill it. Males sometimes haul slain prey back to their mates or drag still-living prey to their lairs for the cubs to practice killing.
Manticores collect their victims’ valuables for a variety of reasons, including curiosity, emulation of other monsters who collect treasure, the man-scent on the things, or because they know humans value the things and therefore might come looking for them. Their lack of real hands prevents most manticores from using what magical items fall into their possession. However, manticores that have allied with evil humans may possess magical items designed specifically for their use. Examples include magical collars or bracelets that are, in effect, oversized magical rings.
Ecology: Manticores are wide-ranging carnivores that have successfully survived in every region inhabited by humans, whether in the wilderness or underground. They are nightmarish opponents but invaluable allies if conditions are right. A manticore’s pelt is a mark of the most powerful hunters and warriors. An intact, cured manticore hide complete with wings is worth 10,000 gp.
3rd edition is bereft of much details, lists Manticores as 10 feet long and weighing 1000 pounds, speaks common
Pathfinder
ECOLOGY
Environment warm hills and marshes
Organization solitary, pair, or pride (3–6)
Manticore Matings
| Manticore’s Mate | Offspring
|
| Lion | Standard manticore
|
| Dire lion | Advanced manticore
|
| Lamia | Lamia with spiked tail and spikes special attack
|
| Sphinx | Sphinx with spiked tail and spikes special attack
|
| Chimera | Chimera with spiked tail and spikes special attack
|
Manticores are fierce predators that patrol a wide area in search of fresh meat. A typical manticore is about 10 feet long and weighs about 1,000 pounds. Some have more human-like heads, usually with beards. Males and females look much alike.
Manticores eat any meat, even carrion, though they prefer human flesh and rarely pass up an opportunity for such a delicacy. They are smart and social enough to bargain with or bully evil humanoids into alliances or offering tribute, and more powerful creatures may hire or bribe them to guard or patrol a place or area. They like lairs in high places, such as hilltops and caves in cliffs.
Although manticores were likely a magical creation, they have long since established themselves as a naturally occurring species. Curiously, manticores seem strangely fecund, and can interbreed with a number of other similarly shaped creatures, including lions, dire lions, lamias, sphinxes, and even chimeras. The progeny of a manticore and an unusual mate is summarized on the table above.
4th edition
Manticore Lore
A character knows the following information with a successful
Nature check.
DC 15: Manticores are wicked predators that delight
in devouring intelligent creatures, especially dwarves and
humans. They fling iron spikes from their tails with deadly
precision.
DC 20: Manticores have three rows of teeth, which constantly
grow throughout their lives. They often leave old teeth
and iron spikes in the bodies of their mauled victims as sure
signs of manticore attack.
Although dimwitted, manticores understand Common
and can speak a few Common words and phrases. They are
exceedingly impatient and tend to attack those who attempt to
parley with them.
Encounter Groups
Manticores hunt in small prides of two or three individuals,
or sometimes singly. They are brutish, violent creatures that
can be brought under control only by masters too strong to be
eaten. Goblins or other intelligent monsters often entice manticores
to help them for a time with gifts of food or treasure.
However, manticores are greedy and disloyal and rarely stay
bribed for long.
Level 11 Encounter (XP 3,000)
✦ 1 manticore (level 10 elite skirmisher)
✦ 1 galeb duhr rockcaller (level 11 controller)
✦ 4 ogre savages (level 8 brute)
Level 13 Encounter (XP 4,200)
✦ 2 manticores (level 10 elite skirmisher)
✦ 2 hill giants (level 13 brute)
✦ 4 ogre thugs (level 11 minion)
5th edition.
A monster in every sense of the word, a manticore has
a vaguely humanoid head, the body of a lion, and the
wings of a dragon. A bristling mane stretches down
the creature's back, and its long tail ends in a cluster of
deadly spikes that can impale prey at impressive range.
Evil Predators. Manticores are fierce killers that hunt
far and wide for prey. They work together to take down
particularly large or dangerous creatures, sharing the
meal once a kill is made. A manticore begins its attack
with a volley of tail spikes, then lands and uses its claws
and bite. When outdoors and outnumbered, it uses its
wings to stay aloft, attacking from a distance until its
spikes are depleted.
A manticore isn't particularly bright, but it possesses
a malevolent nature and the ability to converse. In the
course of attacking, it denigrates its foes and offers to
kill them swiftly if they beg for their lives. If a manti core
sees an advantage to be gained by sparing a creature's
life, it does so, asking for a tribute or sacrifice equal to
its loss of food.
Monstrous Relationships. Manticores serve wicked
masters that treat them well and provide regular prey. A
manticore might provide aerial support for an ore horde
or a hobgoblin army. Another could serve as a hunting
companion for a hill giant chief, or guard the entrance to
a lamia's lair.
The manticores' greatest territorial rivals include
chimeras, griffons, perytons, and wyverns. Manticores
hunting as a pack often have the advantage of greater~:
numbers. In addition to these creatures, manticores fear;
dragons and avoid them.
Of interest is flavor text does callback to first edition:
"Manticores love the taste of human flesh. That's why on trips through the mountains I always travel with human guards." -- Marthok Uldarr, Dwarf Copper Merchant
2nd edition probably my favorite write up, but I also like the details added by Pathfinder and although I played all of 2 hours of 4th edition the encounter group section seems helpful to me.
What to have an ecology section
Basic vitals (size, weight)
Economic Value (hide, poison harvesting, husbandry)
Behavior (mating patterns, typical lairs, hunting habits, hunting range, typical allies and predators).
Manticore Ecology
With a human-like face, the body of a lion, dragon-like wings, and a long tail bristling with poisonous spikes, the manticore is a terrifying predator.
Likely some magical experiment gone awry, Manticores have flourished in all manner of environments. Intelligent enough to avoid civilized areas, they make their lairs in difficult to reach caves and crags. Contemptuous and cowardly, Manticores prey upon those weaker than itself, quickly retreating when facing significant resistance.
A typical adult Manticore is 10 feet long and weighs 1000 pounds. An intact pelt can fetch a good price to the right buyer, and up to eight vials of poison can be extracted from recent corpses with a successful [check].
Highly cross-fertile, manticores can inter-breed with many different species, with evidence of successful pairings between lions, dire lions, lamias, chimeras, and even sphinxes. A typical litter is 2-4 pups which mature within 3 years.
Their naturally wicked, and impatient natures make them nearly impossible to tame but have been known to form temporary alliances with bandits, monsterous humanoids such as orcs and bugbears, giants, and evil sphinxes. In exchange for magical items and other gifts they have even been known to serve as mounts. Manticores loathe and fear dragons and only serve them out of necessity, looking for any opportunity to flee or kill them.
They prefer the taste of human flesh but will hunt whatever is available including scavenging for carrion in lean times. They'll travel as far as (3 hexes) from their lairs, and tend to collect the valuables of their prey for trade and bait.
Organization, solitary, pair (50% 2-4 pups), pride (4-8), mixed pride (1-2 with 3-6 lions or dire lions), other.
